I have tested compact, even clever ones to death and NOTHING can take a good pic every time if there's movement. Its crazy!
I've had my boys jumping on the sofa and doing forward rolls and I getting the odd good pic but generally all blurred.

Soooo, I am going to get an SLR and go on a course and start to do things properly!

BUT, which one, what's a good camera / good lenses etc as a good starter package?
I take pics of moving kids and sport mainly if that helps.

Many thanks!

If you are a beginner, then I recommend starting with a Canon EOS 400 or a Nikon D40x.

These are fine for outdoors, but not so much for indoors (only because of the lens they come with).

For moving objects, both perform well outdoors, indoors is an issue (again only because of the lens).

There is one problem with both, and that they have slow motor drives. They can only take up to 3 frames per second. Sports photographers go for 7+ frames per second.

If you are a beginner, then there is no need to splash out that much money for an advanced SLR, so I recommend to stick with beginner entry cameras.

I incline more towards the Nikon D40x.

I tried both the EOS 400 and the D40x, and hands down the D40x is a clear winner.

Both cameras come with the same lens coverage (18-55mm), and both have the same aperture. However, the Nikon camera is way WAY better in terms of handling and quality. It feels better, sturdier, and fits VERY nicely in your hand. The lens that comes with it is quite sharp for a kit lens, and has VERY little distortion.

The EOS is very cheaply done, handles poorly, feels like a toy. The kit lens is terrible. And I mean terrible. At 18mm, you have HORRIBLE barrel distortion (if you shoot any vertical lines, they will all come out to be curved).

Right now, I'm using a D40x for some professional work, and the only thing I wish it has that the Canon has, is mirror lock-up. But thats a minor detail, since I can get around it with a good tripod (mirror lock-up is a way to reduce the vibrations in the camera when the shutter is released, and this is needed on slow speeds where hand-held will give you a blur).

If you feel like lashing out extra $$$, and you want to go big, then I recommend the Nikon D300. Nice camera, 12 megapixels, awesome pictures, and 6.5 frames per second, its great for sports without going for really pro cameras.

Again, this is all from personal experience, and I prefer Nikon over Canon, so in the end it all depends on how the camera feels.

What level of photographer are you?

Hi

It all depends on your cash flow and what sort of photos you want to achive, you dont have to spend a fortune or even get the latest cameras, the new Canon 40D is very impressive and with live view too, also the Sony A700 has hade good reviews, if they are to expencive either the 400D or the Nikon equivalent,

I currently use Canon 20D's for an event photo business and portraits, printing upto 18x12 is not a problem and is big enough for most, you can pick them up for £300 ish mark now and they are superb cameras, we are upgrading at present but only because the business demands it. we have used the 20d for over 3 years, never had any complaints for the quality of our prints and used these cameras to provide the images for our first book, so they cant be bad.

at the end of the day, read the reviews, ask as many questions as you need and try them out in a photo store to see what suits you best for the style of photo you do

ATB
SHANAN